JERUSALEM: Israeli troops and Palestinian freedom fighters clashed across the Gaza Strip over the weekend, both sides said on Sunday, as brokered countries sought common ground for a possible truce that would release hostages held by Hamas.
Nearly 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war with Israel, in which the colonial colonial state razed entire cities and brutally bombed Palestinian civilians.
But prospects for securing any truce looked uncertain, with Israel saying it planned to simultaneously expand its sweep to destroy Hamas, while the resistance faction stood firm on its demand for a permanent end to the nearly five-month-old war. .
Residents said Israeli forces shelled several areas of the enclave as tanks rolled into Beit Lahiya and soldiers and gunmen fought battles in Gaza City’s Zeitoun sector – both in the north, which was captured at the start of the offensive.
At least 86 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since Saturday, health officials said. The Israeli military said two soldiers were killed in fighting in southern Gaza and that its forces killed or captured several Palestinian militants in Zeitoun and elsewhere.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned his war cabinet late Saturday to brief intelligence chiefs who had returned from a meeting with Qatari, Egyptian and American mediators in Paris on a possible second Gaza ceasefire.
During the first pause in fighting in November, about half of the 253 people captured by Hamas were released. As part of the deal, Israel released three times as many Palestinians from its security prisons and allowed more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
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Citing unnamed officials, Israeli media reported a framework for the return of about a third of the 130 captives still in Gaza during a six-week ceasefire covering the Muslim holy month of Ramazan. There was no formal confirmation from either side.
Palestinian officials said Hamas insisted that Israel call off the offensive and withdraw forces as part of any deal. Israel has indicated its intention to move into one of the last cities where Hamas has intact forces.
“We are working to reach the next framework for the release of our abductees and also to complete the elimination of the Hamas battalions in Rafah,” Netanyahu said on Facebook, referring to the city in the far south of Gaza near the border with Egypt.
This week, he added, Israel’s security cabinet will approve military plans for Rafah – including the evacuation of more than a million displaced Palestinian civilians sheltering there, whose fate worries world powers.
